Exhibition: Fluid Mechanics

Fluid Mechanics is guest curated by Alexandra Riesco, Tandem Press 2025–2026 University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate Student Curatorial Assistant. During her time at Tandem over the past year, Riesco has familiarized herself with many of the prints created at Tandem Press. As one of her final projects, she was challenged to conceptualize and curate an exhibition, selecting pieces from the Tandem Press inventory and contextualizing them to create a unique statement.

Exhibition Statement

Fluidity is defined as the ability of a substance to flow easily, the quality of being smooth and continuous, or the state of being unstable, likely to change repeatedly or unexpectedly. Artists use fluidity both conceptually and materially to express a range of seemingly contradictory ideas: stillness and motion, serenity and distress, unpredictability and the breakdown of boundaries. The quality of fluidity is directly tied to how liquids behave. Liquids respond to their environment, changing shape to fit their container. They are also transparent, acting as a lens to highlight or distort their surroundings. Beyond how these substances physically behave, different fluids—water, tears, beer, ether, etc—can each carry their own meanings.

Fluid Mechanics features work by local Madison artists as well as selected works from Tandem Press’s inventory, each using or expressing fluidity in different ways. Created in a variety of processes and techniques, including printmaking, sculpture, photography, and painting, these works demonstrate the wide range of ideas and emotions that fluidity can express.

This exhibition includes works by Baran Ataei, Suzanne Caporael, Emma Harris, Dani Hughes, Marie Lorenz, Cameron Martin, Judy Pfaff, Jane Rosen, Alison Saar, and Christian Ulloa.